It's been two and a half months since that hectic November when the entire world's attention was focused on the video game industry. Sony and Nntendo launched their new PS3 and Wii consoles in North America. Microsoft's Xbox 360 console also did well, benefiting from the low shipments of the PS3 and Wii along with the sales success of Epic's action game Gears of War. Since then things have calmed down a little bit in the console wars but there is still a bit of sniping from all three sides and despite what certain financial analysts have predicted the truth is that this current console conflict is still up for grabs.
In this feature FiringSquad take a look at current state of the console war and give our recommendations to all three companies so they can come out on top.
This could be fun as they make great tables. Go big or go extinct. Prime your senses for a neural handshake and step into the cockpit of a Jaeger. It is on you to cancel the apocalypse when Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX on May 16.
Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)
MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."
darthv72: "Seems about right."
MS: "Excuse m ..."
darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."
MS:
What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.
I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..
If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.
But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.
Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.
If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.
Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you
@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers
Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.
They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.
In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"
Microsoft: "why's that"
Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'
Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk
It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD
The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.
tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
Minor correction: Sony said TWO million launch units. They corrected to one only at the last moment after the two million was looking obviously unachievable. People are (again) letting Sony's PR machine roll over them. *sigh*
Pretty good article otherwise, with some great tips all around.
There is no point pointing out the lack of systems at launch on Sony's side because Microsoft had the same problem, Least Sony started to crank out more systems as soon as they could compared to the wait that I had to endure to get a 360, even had the damn thing reserved. Had to wait until March to be able to get my 360, and even then the 360 launch lineup was not the greatest, nothing truly showcased the hardware until dead rising and gears of war, sure there will be a slow down on the side of Sony, but give them a chance after all we all gave Microsoft the chance, be fair!
Sony's been keeping us in the dark about a LOT of franchies, as well as new IPs. I don't know why Mart is spreading false information about Sony's launch details though.
Sony originally promised 2 million units during launch, 4 million by the end of the year, and 6 million by March 2006. Laser-diode crap happened, but they're really cranking out those systems, so much that scalpers aren't even making any money off of them.
Pretty good article. It highlighted the positives of all 3 systems, and the negatives, as well; oftentimes the fanboys fail to see either argument for/against a system. (That's why they're fanboys).
MS has the best online service and offers the best game lineup (currently, with many good games in the pipe), but needs a price cut to accelerate sales and definitely needs to release a bigger HD soon, and at a reasonable price. Kill the Core system. They also need to address failing units (new one-year warranty helps) and their poor customer service. MS launched first, but has yet to pull away from its competitors. That's their biggest challenge now: Keeping (and extending) their lead.
Sony's got brand-name recognition and substantial last-gen dominance, along with some good exclusives (for now), but botched their PS3 launch (let's be honest, they did) and came across as arrogant to consumers and gamers alike. The high price of the system keeps it out of the hands of Average Jane and Joe, who were their bread-and-butter last generation. Blu-Ray is nice, and the higher disc capacity may be a factor in the future, but for now, it looks like an unneeded expense to the average consumer, who doesn't plan on buying a HDTV for a few more years and doesn't know Blu-Ray from a blueberry, let alone HD-DVD. More games will help (March) along with a significant price cut before the end of the year. Sony won't dominate this generation like the last, but they'll end up with a substantial user base. If they learn from their mistakes this time, maybe PS4 (or whatever they call it) will be better received.
The Wii somehow managed to find gaming's "G-Spot," if you will: An inexpensive system with broad appeal, fun games, and clever marketing, especially in light of the system's unfortunate name (insert joke here). Here's Nintendo's problem: How do you keep the Wii from stagnating, from becoming a console with a clever "gimmick" and only a few games that take advantage of said "gimmick?" Look at the ports of COD3 and Farcry...OK, but motion controls didn't do much for them. Games like Wii Play, Wario Ware, and the like may become more common than unusual...although the Wiimote is versatile enough that clever programming may find new and interesting ways to utilize it. Virtual Console is sweet, tho, and Ninty has hundreds and hundreds of games available for eventual download. And Nintendo HAS to start offering online play at some point.
My .02 worth. (Still wearing asbestos suit)